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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22933261">Just Your Problem</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily'>DesertLily</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hellfire [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Character Death, Ciri doesn't actually appear, Fire, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not A Happy Ending, Post Epiosde 6, Post Rare Species, Sad, Sad Ending, she's just mentioned but not by name</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:56:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,576</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22933261</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaskier had always known he was a fool. He had been all of his life. But it’s around Geralt of Rivia that he becomes far more than that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier | Dandelion &amp; Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hellfire [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1649077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>169</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Just Your Problem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My first Witcher fic and I can't believe it's this</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“If life could give me one blessing, it would be to take you off my hands.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaskier had experienced pain before - of course he had! But no wound would ever cut as deep as those words. Nothing would ever hurt him as much as the broken heart gifted to him by Geralt of Rivia. Geralt. The witcher who Jaskier had devoted over a decade of his life to. The warrior who had protected him so many times. The man who had become his best friend. The one Jaskier had given his heart freely to. Not that it mattered. The second Jaskier saw the looks Geralt gave Yennefer, he knew any chance he had with him was gone. But at least he still had Geralt’s company; his friendship. Though, that had all become a lie too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The day on the mountain was one Jaskier thought about often. How could he not? The life he had been building up for the last decade had come crashing down all because of a few sentences uttered by Geralt of Rivia. Had it been true? Had Jaskier’s friendship with Geralt just been an illusion? Had he really been such a burden? The thought made his stomach twist in knots. It left a foul taste in his mouth. But Jaskier carried on. He went back to his old life as a wandering bard, but the lack of Geralt was stifling. With no company but his own, the roads became lonesome and provided a silence that was almost deafening. There had never been any sensation Jaskier had hated more. Not even the horror caused by the Djinn. It was heartbreak. It was hell. But he endured; he survived. He wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of giving up.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thus Jaskier’s career continued. He had enough stories of his adventures to write a lifetime’s worth of ballads. So he continued to write and sing and </span>
  <em>
    <span>live</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Of course, some of his songs went down as well as bad ale but others...others earned him enough coin to get by. Hell, some of them even became hits; being sung amongst a multitude of taverns with high praise. Unfortunately for Jaskier, they didn’t allow him to move on. Even after being completely disregarded by the Witcher, Geralt still managed to have an influence on his life; becoming the very cause of his income.  As always, destiny had an ability to be cruel. But Jaskier endured. He smiled as he played hyperbolic ballads, flirted with anyone who held even a spec of beauty, and simply...</span>
  <em>
    <span>lived</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For years, Jaskier lived his life Witcher-free. He was perfectly content to live a life remaining that way. He traveled from town to town; some familiar and some new. Unfortunately, Jaskier picked the wrong day to return to Gulet. The  town that was the start of all this madness. The town in which he had first met the person who would change his life forever. The town in which he had first crossed paths with Geralt of Rivia. He had been staying there for just over a week now. A local tavern was letting him stay there in exchange for providing free music. It was a fair deal. The tips he recieved were even fairer.  It had all been fine at first! It really had! But then things took a downwards turn as they always did. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaskier had originally been wandering around the town for the most basic of reasons; gathering supplies for when he inevitably left town. Whistling to himself, things had been going fine as he headed back until he saw a stablehand leading a horse to the stables. A very familiar horse. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Roach</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Fuck. He knew that meant Geralt was there or he wasn’t far behind. Sure enough there was the familiar white haired witcher heading into the tavern with two companions. One he very much recognised as a scowl formed on his face. Yennefer. Great. Could things get any worse? The second companion he didn’t recognise. It was a girl with long blonde hair who couldn’t possibly be any older than thirteen. A brief thought crossed Jaskier’s mind of the child surprise owed to Geralt. But he’d had no intentions of collecting on it, hadn’t he? He stood there for a few moments, feeling frozen in place. Jaskier hadn’t planned for this at all. As the trio stepped inside, Yennefer took a moment to glance behind them. Unfortunately, her eyes met Jaskier’s. Before she even had the chance to call his name, the bard bolted down the street; hiding himself amongst the afternoon crowds.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t sure what to think. At least, Geralt had found some new company to keep - even if it was Yennefer of Vengerberg. In hindsight, he had begun to accept that his dislike of her was mostly out of jealousy. She meant more to Geralt than Jaskier did. She had captured his heart in a way Jaskier had only ever hoped to. As much as he owed her an apology, it in no way opened him up to the idea of actually confronting the trio. So much so that Jaskier moved to the other tavern across town. It greatly reduced the chances of running into them whilst he was playing. It stopped him having to have Geralt inform him of how much better off he was without him. It stopped him wanting for a lifestyle he could never have again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to keep him free of close calls in regards to the group. Whether it was just wandering through the marketplace or the one occasion in which Yennefer and Geralt had travelled to the tavern Jaskier was staying at in hope of finding a good drink, it seemed fate was trying to push them together. Eventually, though, it seemed Yennefer had had enough. That was how he found himself cornered by a very irritated mage one night after he had finished. Whilst Jaskier was used to people being irritated in response to his music, he had a feeling something else was bothering her. “Geralt has been looking for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was by far the worst possible thing she could say to him. “Hi, Yennefer. It’s so lovely to see you too! I’m great, thank you for asking!” Jaskier couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “Geralt has made it very clear how he feels towards me. I can’t imagine he has much left to say outside of bombarding me with insults.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yennefer already looked ready to hit him. “I forgot you could be almost as bad as he is!” She snapped, taking a step closer to him and very much invading his personal space. Jaskier attempted to step back but found himself pressed against the wall. He tightened his grip on his lute. It seemed there was no escaping the exasperated mage. “You’re his best friend, Jaskier! Words said in anger like that scarcely hold any weight.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look, Yennefer. Even if he didn’t mean it, the words hurt. A lot. I...I can’t just go strolling back to him as if it never happened. Because it did happen and I’m not ready to forgive him for it.” He sighed. “Besides, how can you be so sure he didn’t at least partially mean it?” </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Because, you moron, he may lust after me but Geralt loves you. I’ve known it since the day we met.” She snorted. “No one looks like you like that like they’re ‘just a friend’.” He felt his face burn bright red at that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He found himself unable to meet her eyes. “He made his bed and can go lie in it. Whatever he feels towards me and whatever I felt towards him now firmly remain in the past. It’s better that way.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn you both and your stubbornness.” With that, the mage made her leave. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their conversation swam through Jaskier’s mind constantly the next day. He refused to believe it. Not entirely. Geralt couldn’t love him. It was impossible! It was improbable!  But it did tug at his heartstrings in a way that Jaskier really wasn’t fond of. He found himself wandering the town aimlessly, feeling as lost as he had when he had first parted with the witcher. Then came a mixture of nearby cries that definitely got his attention. Jaskier followed them to a sight that made his stomach sink. The tavern he had first worked at -the one that now housed Geralt - was burning wildly. He scanned the crowd quickly, desperately for any sign of the trio. Worry began to fill him as he caught no sign of them. But then there they were. Yennefer ran outside as she clasped the hand of the little girl with Geralt following them. But Jaskier had a clearer view of the building than they could. He could see the building’s structure begin to give out. He could see the piece of timber ready to fall on Geralt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he could even register what he was doing, Jaskier ran towards the building with a speed he didn’t know he even possessed. Fuelled by emotions he had hoped were long gone, he shoved the witcher out of place. More startled than anything, Geralt stumbled out of the way. For a moment, their eyes met and Jaskier found himself frozen in place. Just for that moment, everything felt right in the world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then the timber fell and the world around Jaskier went dark as a familiar voice screamed his name. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Can we get an F in the chat for Jaskier? I do have an idea for a much happier ending. If anyone is interested, I'll 100% write it! As always, comments are always appreciated or hmu @ desert-lily on tumblr!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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